ORCID Profile
0000-0001-7562-4975
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Publisher: University of Queensland Library
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.14264/51B0237
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 16-08-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2021
DOI: 10.1016/J.SHPSA.2021.07.009
Abstract: This essay examines the curious relationship between Charles Darwin and the palaeontologist William Boyd Dawkins (1837-1929). Dawkins was a beneficiary of Darwin's patronage and styled himself as a Darwinian to Darwin and the public, yet viciously attacked Darwin and his theory in anonymous reviews. This has confused historians who have misunderstood the exact nature of Dawkins's attitude towards evolution and his relationship to Darwin. The present study explains both the reasons for Dawkins's contradictory statements and his relationship with Darwin. I introduce Batesian mimicry as a conceptual framework to make sense of Dawkins's actions, suggesting that Dawkins mimicked a Darwinian persona in order to secure advancement in the world of Victorian science. Dawkins's pro-Darwinian stance, therefore, was a façade, an act of mimicry. I argue that Dawkins exploited Darwin for his patronage - which took the form of advice, support from Darwin's well-placed friends, and monetary assistance - while safely expressing his dissent from Darwinian orthodoxy in the form of anonymous reviews. This is, therefore, a case study in how scientific authority and power could be gained and maintained in Victorian science by professing allegiance to Darwin and Darwinism.
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Date: 14-06-2022
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Henry-James Meiring.